The ceremony is still going on.
At 9:00 a.m. on September 1, Mr. Bui Van Dung, captain of the 1,200m3 sand suction vessel, urged the crew on board to prepare lunch. There were 5 people on board and today was the second day of the holiday, so the food was quite decent.
"Today's lunch has braised chicken, stir-fried cabbage and soup," Mr. Dung boasted.
Taking a break from work, the crew gathered around to sip tea and chat.
For the past two months, Mr. Dung and his crew have been constantly going in and out of Tran De estuary (Long Phu district, Soc Trang province). In the morning, he is at the crossing point near the ferry terminal in Long Phu town, and in the afternoon, he is already at sea.
There is also a sand mine at sea, more than 20km from the mainland. After the ship has filled up with sand, Mr. Dung and the crew will turn the ship back to the transfer point (more than 40km from the mine), pump fresh water from the Hau River to wash the sand to reduce the salinity from 22 - 25 to 13 - 17.
The salt-washed sand will be pumped to overflow ships (62 have been mobilized in total) waiting to be transported to the construction site of the Eastern North-South Expressway in Kien Giang and Ca Mau.
Almost all day and night, they drifted on the waves.
Each trip out to sea and back takes about 15 hours and 800 liters of fuel. Whenever they reach the transfer point, Nguyen Nhu Sang, captain of another suction ship, sends people ashore to buy food.
For the past two months, since the sea sand mine went into operation (June 29, 2024), more than 10 sand dredgers like Mr. Sang's have been here, with a maximum capacity of up to 2,000m3 of sand... However, the ship has only been in operation for about 10 days, due to having to anchor while waiting for procedures...
Mr. Sang said, some ships have 5-6 crew members, some have 9-10 people, all of whom cook on board. On the upper deck, in the back, there is a small room used as a kitchen.
Living room.
Every day, the captain tries to ensure three dishes: salty, stir-fried, soup... to keep the crew healthy.
On the ship, there are many small corners, and each place is covered with a mat, neatly arranged into a sleeping place for each person. Along the stairs, near the cockpit… are full of such "nests".
During this holiday, the ships still operate normally. The crew on Mr. Sang's ship received an incentive bonus of 500,000 VND/person, because the sand mining progress is urgent.
Cooking area.
"It depends on the ship whether there is a bonus or not. Because we are assigned a volume, salary costs are all included in the unit price. Whether there is a bonus or not is not important, the priority is to meet the progress," said Mr. Sang.
Currently, the contractor has only exploited half of the mine, with a total volume brought to the highway project of more than 100,000m3.
Mr. Do Minh Chau, Deputy Director of VNCN E&C Investment - Construction and Engineering Joint Stock Company (the exploitation contractor) said that with the current suction vessels, the sea sand exploitation capacity has increased to nearly 18,000m3/day in early September, contributing to speeding up the construction progress of the North - South Expressway.
Holidays and Tet away from home, a little sad but also familiar
On ships, people with "seniority" are away from home for at least two years, so celebrating Tet and holidays at sea or on construction sites is normal for crew members.
You can lie down anywhere on the train.
"I only go ashore when I have work, but most of the time I stay on the ship. At night, when the ship is not operating, it's sadder, but I'm used to it," said Pham Van Khoa, a native of Hai Phong. He has been working from Tra Vinh to Soc Trang for two months now, and his salary is 550,000 VND/day.
He said, riding the waves all day, enjoying the river breeze, even if they have money, they have nowhere to spend it. Thanks to that, most of their money is brought back to their wives and children. Mr. Sang said, taking advantage of the time off, he will return to Hanoi to visit his wife and two children.
A "nest" of sailors.
As for crew members like Mr. Khoa, they can only return home twice a year. Most of the crew members on the sand-dredging ships in Soc Trang are from Hai Phong.
"Eating the holiday at sea is so sad, but I have to accept it," Mr. Sang mused.
The joy of the holiday season for sailors is simply having dinner together, telling stories about home, and talking about the children preparing to start the new school year.
They said that now it's easy to make video calls and see pictures of their wives and children at any time, so it's okay.
The clip records the living area on the ship and the sand dredging area of the crew.
On June 21, 2024, the People's Committee of Soc Trang province issued a Confirmation of Area B1.1 and B1.2 to VNCN E&C Construction and Engineering Investment Joint Stock Company to organize exploitation to serve the construction of the Eastern North-South Expressway project.
On June 29, the contractor began to exploit sea sand. The method of exploiting sea sand in area B1 of Soc Trang province is to use suction hoses of turtle boats running along the sand surface on the seabed. This exploitation is spread out to avoid creating deep holes, to avoid erosion occurring both in the short term and in the long term.
The sand mining area is limited by four corner points with specific coordinates by the competent authority. The permitted depth is 7.5m, and the permitted height is 5m from sea level.
The term of sand exploitation is calculated from the time of the decision to hand over the sea area until December 21, 2024.
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/chuyen-nhung-nguoi-nghi-le-tren-song-bien-192240831075013616.htm
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